AIBU to be utterly baffled at how many people are falling for Reform after the Brexit mess?

[TheCoralShaker]

I’m not into any political party or ideology – honestly, they all seem like varying shades of grifters to me – but I just can't believe how many people are jumping on the Reform bandwagon like it's some magic fix.

After everything that happened with Brexit – the lies, the infighting, the broken promises, the economic fallout we’re still wading through – how are people still falling for this kind of simplistic, shouty politics? The "common sense" soundbites, the "tell it like it is" nonsense, the constant scapegoating of whatever group is most convenient that week... it's all so transparent.

I'm not saying any of the main parties are perfect (far from it), but Reform seems to be just a bunch of media-savvy populists spouting whatever will get the loudest headlines. What’s worrying is how many people lap it up without even questioning what’s actually being proposed, or whether it’s remotely feasible.

Where are the critical thinking skills? Why are people so easily seduced by these pantomime figures who tap into anger and offer no real substance? It’s like the more outrageous someone is, the more they’re celebrated, and never mind whether any of it makes sense.

I get that people are frustrated, disillusioned, sick of the status quo, so am I. But falling for another bunch of opportunists who thrive on division and offer nothing beyond slogans seems like doubling down on the same mistake.

AIBU to think that we should have learned by now? Or is this just how politics is going to be from now on, performative outrage and no actual plan?

It's a big problem. I remember a few years ago reading an investigation into prisons in the UK and how rehabilitation and repeat offending could be greatly improved. However it would take time and money so none of it was implemented. We now have a prison crisis.

Okay, but my point is, the wards that used to be labour are now reform. Now I haven't interviewed every person in this election, but I don't think its ridiculous to assume that those voters used to vote labour and chose to vote reform!

I’d want to see which wards were previously Labour and what the % turnover was before I was prepared to make any assumptions. The thing I find most surprising about those results is that the Tories gained/held any seats.

Labour won the general election with 35% of the vote share and declared that the Tories, with 24%, were over. Now Labour polls at 24% while Reform, who got 15% at the general election, now polls at 30%.

The red wall shifted to the Tories because they sold change and and gave up on them when they achieved none, Labour found their way back with a manifesto for change and then clearly didn't provide the change that a third of them expected or wanted. You are dreaming if you don't think those constituencies don't keep spinning the wheel until something sticks. I think the results in Durham at the local election could well be widely replicated in three years.

Clearly Labour are spooked. They've stopped talking about the Conservatives completely and focus their attention on the small band of Reform MPs - is there six now?

I think the results in Durham at the local election could well be widely replicated in three years.

I think that depends on how successful Reform is at running the councils they won. It hasn’t got off to a promising start.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2025/england/councils/E06000047

Here's the change in the Durham local elections, that's a gain of 65 seats for Reform (from 0) and a loss of 38 seats for Labour, leaving them with just 4.

I think you have fundamentally misunderstood why many people vote Reform. The lefts biggest weakness is that they really do not understand the right (while the right really do understand the left).

I'm not sure, do you think that Labour government are suffering because of the performance of local councils with bin disputes and bankruptcies? I don't know 🤷🏼‍♀️

How can the left better understand the right?

I totally agree. They should do something like a rolling election (not a general one) and, say, have a vote in a third of seats every three years.

It might make putting together a cabinet tricky. But it would definitely keep things interesting.

This is a kind of trial run for Reform. It’s the closest any of Farage’s various party incarnations have come to power and the first time they’ve been accountable for delivering results. We shall see what kind of state those councils are in when they’re next up for reelection in 2029 - bear in mind that’s likely to be the same year as the next GE so the scrutiny will be intense. There will be a lot of people who will think if they screw up running local government they can’t be trusted with national government.

Sorry my mistake, I meant the Lancashire county council now has a reform majority.

It's a good question. It's most likely a matter of will I suspect. They don't want to, so it's not going to be easy. Because their politics are more about status than any other motivators. Perhaps.

In your opinion, what's fundamental to understanding Reform supporters?

So you think that the local reform councils will be under scrutiny in a way that the other councils are not? Maybe.

Although I can see a political spin that plays out in which they claim they were thwarted in their efforts by state driven red tape which could be curtailed if the party were in government.

There isn't one reason. For some it's simply the fact that all mainstream parties are their direct political opponent and Reform is simply a weapon with which to lash out and give them a bloody nose. It's not much more than that. They're not supporters. They're not liked much by the right either.

So the left need to understand that Reform is a protest vote and that's how they can understand the right?

@senua

Some form of cross party consensus group taking on and making unpopular decisions wrt difficult long term issues might remove the stigma of said decisions being attached to the party in government at the time of implementation? But that assumes politicians are concerned only with the best interests of the country first and foremost...

It might be a start to not just dismiss them with sub-human terms like 'scum' and 'gammon'.

I'm not sure positing Labour as left in opposition to Reform on the right is particularly helpful at the moment. I mean, the Island of Strangers speech and attack on disability payments aren't very left. And Reforms jabber about nationalising key industries isn't very right.

Strange how no one can answer the question.

That's not what I said. But as I already pointed our, it's a matter of will. If they wanted to, they could. They don't want to.

I'm on the left and I'm asking you how to better understand the right but you don't seem to know.

Careful now, some factions of the "right" are wanting to reclaim socialism from the "left"